Out of Hand: October 2017

Halloween 2017

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

This was a great year for us to connect with our neighbors. There were so many kids participating in trick-or-treat! This night makes our neighborhood feel fully alive.

A free pumpkin the kids received at King's Dominion, carved by the boys.

This one has figured out how to be cute and shamelessly flashes these looks all day. <3

What Halloween is complete without a viewing of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! ?

This was the absolute best of all the photos I took. They would not stand next to each other and simultaneously all look at me. We take what we can get!

Eldest photography.

Engineer photography -- he's just begun.

Engineer photography.

Mr. Reflective.

DH as Hulk Hogan for optiatory work party.

The first haul from DH party. Of course it had to be sorted!

I was glad to see there were enough Reese's to go around.

Celebrating Sovereignty of the Will*...

...by doing something unpleasant: eating all his veggies (and chicken).

(*sovereignty of the will over the passions, NOT sovereignty of man's will in general -- for any theologians possibly freaked out by the title on Reformation day)

Monday, October 30, 2017

She has all but given up her nap. She watches movies with her brother during quiet time.

My favorite mom moments are when I have these views. <3

She is beginning to understand photography and occasionally leaves dozens of selfies on my phone. Here she asked DH to take a photo of Mr. Serious's animals she swiped.

She loves to climb and often freaks out strangers. I'm much less concerned because she's pretty good at climbing. She never falls. However, I don't let her climb to heights from where falling would cause serious injury.

She often builds towers and brings them to me exclaiming, "I build it!" She carefully closes the gate after herself to keep her little brother safe.

She is very motivated to keep up with her big brothers. We love her so much!

Friday, October 27, 2017

These two have been getting along better lately. They never sleep together (just a rule for all our kids); but this day, they were obsessed about packing and "going to New York City," where they remember staying in huge beds. I wanted to capture the dynamic between the two as it was cute and funny to me:

Sunday, October 22, 2017

We decided to squeeze in one more day at King's Dominion this season.

I paid way too much for this digital photo but love it!

The Engineer grew enough (since the summer) to ride with his big brother. So, this trip was extra-fun for him. You can even see him throwing his mom a little attitude in this first picture if you look closely:

I'm so glad we have this for posterity!

She looks bored, but she continues to ask to go to King's Dominion even though she can't go on most of the rides. Today she got to pick a pumpkin and mark it up. (They were free.) And she loves the huge fountain at the entrance.

Seven Years!

We decided to do something extra special for our seventh. We were in the hospital last year; this year, we had a mini-getaway. Thanks to our rewards points, our night and breakfast and bottled water were comped.

DH sent me some flowers; I bought him Knob Creek maple bourbon.

We revisited Il Porto because Italian is always a winner, and it was within walking distance of our hotel, the Alexandrian, formerly Hotel Monaco, recently purchased by Marriott.

The waiter asked us if we were in town for the marathon, which totally cracked me up. I mean, DH runs at least once a week, but I haven't in two months. Flattering nonetheless!

We took a picture here when I was in my first trimester with the Engineer. This year, it feels like we finally have some history. Life has changed a lot this year. DH is much busier at work, for one. We also feel grateful for every day we have together.

The hotel lobby was pretty cool.

The courtyard had a wedding Saturday night and was setting up for a wedding Sunday morning.

We went to the Vigil Mass without the kids for the first time in a long time. I read the Magnificat here in the morning. It is so quiet on Sunday mornings -- my favorite time of the week!